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I've been a long time lurker on these forums and I'm interested in perhaps buying a Yonex racquet from Eric's store (along with some other bits and bobs). They seem fairly competitive compared to the prices in England. Does anyone know why this is? I'm excluding the cost of shipping. Ie. Arcsaber 11 in UK is £148 but Eric sells for £120.

I'm slightly apprehensive that I may be buying a fake racquet should I decide to purchase one. I could do with some reassurances from people who have bought Yonex racquets from Eric before. Also, does Eric own his own shop in Taiwan that sells racquets or something and does he also do the eBay business on the side? And if he only sells via his eBay store, where does he get the cheap-ish racquets from?

Thanks for the response Visor, I would've assumed it was due to mark-up prices in the EU but I wanted reassurance that Eric was genuine.

The only significant mark-up in the EU is in the UK . Keep in mind that all EU prices include 19-25% VAT already unlike the prices in Asia. To stick with your ARC11 example: 120 + 21 shipping = 141 = €190 euro (ex. VAT) whilst you can get one strung and shipped for €170 tops inc. VAT. (£131 custom strung, shipping not included, near me even)
That said, the choice in weights and grip sizes in Asia is usually a lot bigger, not to mention models not carried in Europe. And of course I'm sure you can cut out on the eBay fees by ordering directly ...

Really good positive experience using Eric. Will definitely use again in the future.

However, there was one thing that I was expecting, but hoping not to see. The sticker on the Voltric Z-force was ever so slightly damaged.http://www.badmintoncentral.com/foru...47#post1867547
Similar to this, but nowhere near as bad. Obviously there is a problem with the Voltric Z-force itself anyway due it using stickers. This can be avoided with extra care but I expect Eric had other things to do and was therefore rushing slightly? It certainly shouldn't put anyone off buying from Eric as it's purely based on how the Voltric Z-force was designed. And I'm sure if you messaged Eric beforehand, he'll take extra care stringing the racquet so it doesn't happen.

Despite this, I look forward to ordering with Eric in the future. And I'm happy with my racquet so no real complaints here

I'd just like to re-iterate that damage from stringing is minimal and I'm only nit-picking. After a couple more stringings, it'll be much worse. If someone is desperate to know how bad, I can upload a couple of pictures.